Munster flyer Andrew Conway ran in a hat-trick of tries against the USA to take his Ireland tally to five tries in 10 Test appearances

Tommy Dickson/www.Inpho.ie

24 November 2018, 08:39 pm ::

By Editor

Conway Claims Hat-Trick As Ireland Finish 2018 With A Flourish

Ireland closed out an unbeaten November run with a runaway 57-14 victory over an in-form USA team, as man-of-the-match Andrew Conway claimed a hat-trick and Stuart McCloskey and replacements Quinn Roux and John Ryan crossed for their first international tries.

Jack Conan's 33rd-minute try, adding to an Andrew Conway brace and a Joey Carbery penalty, gave Ireland a 24-14 lead at the end of a very competitive first half. The USA showed the form which has earned them their highest ever world ranking of 13th.

Twice the Eagles got back on level terms with hooker Joe Taufete'e's immense strength getting him over the try-line in the 11th minute, and their well-drilled lineout maul forcing a penalty try early in the second quarter. However, Ireland were able to take full control in the second half.

Tadhg Beirne weighed in with his third try of the November period, and Conway's third of the night was sandwiched by maiden international scores for Stuart McCloskey and replacements Quinn Roux and John Ryan. Out-half Carbery missed only one of his place-kicks, finishing with 17 points from eight successful attempts.

The result completed a clean sweep of November wins - the Rugby Weekend match against Italy in Chicago and all three GUINNESS Series games - as Ireland won 11 Tests in a calendar year for only the second time ever, matching the feat of the 2003 team.

It has been an incredible 2018 for Joe Schmidt's men with Six Nations Grand Slam and Triple Crown success, a summer series won in Australia and last week's first ever home victory over New Zealand. Their November campaign also saw Will Addison, Ross Byrne and Sam Arnold step up to make their debuts.

Wearing their alternate kit for the GUINNESS Series finale, Ireland's attack ignited inside the opening two minutes. Conway came in off his right wing to send captain Rhys Ruddock charging over halfway and the skipper's well-timed return pass saw the Munster flyer finish clinically, wide on the left. Carbery topped off the try with a crisply-struck conversion.

Will Magie pulled a straightforward ninth-minute penalty wide but the USA were level three minutes later. Despite Jordi Murphy's turnover allowing busy scrum half John Cooney to clear, a well-worked move down the short side of the resulting lineout saw burly hooker Taufete'e bulldoze through a couple of attempted tackles from Conway and Dave Kilcoyne to take his impressive tally to 14 tries in 19 Tests.

Iain Henderson gobbled up turnover ball which led to Garry Ringrose raiding deep into the American 22, the forwards carrying up close before lovely hands from Beirne and Addison - with a slick backhanded offload - put Conway over in the right corner. A cracking conversion from Carbery made it 14-7.

The Eagles' lineout was the platform again in the 22nd minute when Ireland suffered the double whammy of a penalty try and a yellow card for Henderson who collapsed an advancing maul. Clever footwork from Ringrose and Addison quickly brought the hosts back to the USA 22, an offside against Taufete'e being turned into three points by Carbery from a central position.

14-man Ireland had to rejig their back-line with the injured Darren Sweetnam replaced by Ross Byrne who slotted in at out-half with Carbery moving to full-back and Addison shifting across to the left wing. They showed greater cohesion when taking the Eagles through 20 phases, Ruddock's neat footwork - a feature of the build-up to the opening try - getting them within three minutes of the whitewash.

It was one too many offloads as Ringrose's attempted pass resulted in a turnover, but Shaun Davies failed to find touch with his clearance kick and Ireland duly capitalised on that. Following a couple of phases outside the 22, Byrne's pass back inside to the onrushing Conway opened up the defence and Conan was up in support to finish off to the left of the posts.

Ireland's lineout let them down on two occasions in the lead up to half-time, preventing them from adding to their 24-14 lead, but the scrum was a serious weapon early in the second half. Firstly, a lengthy injury stoppage for Taufete'e, who was unfortunately stretched off, took the number of Irish-born players in the US line-up to three - Dylan Fawsitt came on to join John Quill and Paul Mullen up front.

Finlay Bealham, who put in a solid shift at tighthead, was replaced by Ryan who continued to put pressure on USA loosehead Titi Lamositele. The visitors gave away two scrum penalties and a free-kick within ten metres of their line, and from another set piece, McCloskey crashed up close to the posts before Cooney's quick delivery put Beirne over from a couple of metres out.

TMO Ian Davies confirmed the grounding with Carbery knocking over his fourth successful conversion. The Irish bench was more and more active, Arnold coming on for Addison (HIA), and Rob Herring and Roux entering the fray approaching the hour mark. Conan charged down a Davies kick to set the wheels in motion for the next try, Kilcoyne and Conway edging Ireland closer before McCloskey went over in the left corner via Byrne's pinpoint cross-field kick.

After Carbery clipped his most difficult conversion of the night wide, replacements Luke McGrath and Cian Healy quickly got their hands on the ball. Arnold's energetic kick chase and tackle, followed up by a Beirne penalty win at the breakdown, propelled Ireland back up to the American 22, entering the closing quarter of an hour.

Ireland took the Eagles through eight phases off the lineout, with McCloskey and Herring both getting over the gain-line to build the initial momentum. The attack ended with Roux barging in under the posts, aided by a latch from the ever-influential Ruddock. When the US did get a rare second half attacking opportunity, Ringrose shut it down with an excellent tackle on Will Hooley which forced a forward pass.

Luck was not on Ireland's side when Bryce Campbell got away with a deliberate knock-on and then a McGrath try, which came from a Conway chip and collect, was ruled out by TMO Davies for a forward pass from Healy in the build-up. However, Schmidt's charges kept pressing for scores and two more arrived before the final whistle.

Ringrose came back against the grain and threw a dummy to break the line from halfway, gliding through with his sidestep flooring full-back Hooley, and Ruben de Haas was unable to prevent the centre from giving Conway a simple run-in for his third score of the night.

The Eagles defence was worn down for an eighth try past the 80-minute mark, Ringrose and Ruddock again to the fore with the latter's quick hands putting Murphy through a gap and Ryan touched down from the flanker's pass off the ground.